When In Rome
by AzraelEternity
Summary: Spike runs into a new face, Faye finds another videotape from her past, and Ed becomes the head of a mafia? Stay tuned, because Bebop is headed for you. Let's Jam! Chpt 3 Up. Please R
1. Session 1: Just Say Please

Cowboy Bebop - When In Rome Spike has an interesting meeting with a woman by the name of Neira Sailin. Faye discovers another tape about her childhood. Ed finds herself at the top of a mafia on Mars? Stay tuned, because Cowboy Bebop is headed your way. Let's jam!  
  
No one likes Mars. The planet wasn't all that great as compared to what it was in the late twentieth century. Spike had been to this planet more times that he'd care to say. It was a boring planet that never had anything happen that was serious enough to be interesting. The only reason they were headed there was because they ran into a guy worth 500,000, literally. The man's ship crashed onto the deck of the Bebop. Originally the crew was headed to Jupiter for some R&R but had to turn back to deposit the man whom was currently chained up to a large pipe in the living room. Ed being Ed was eager to discover who this person was.  
"Whatcha doin'?"  
"Whaddya mean?"  
"Well, what did you do to have a bounty on your head?"  
"Why do you care? Your buddies hand me over, get paid, and you never see me again. Why are you concerned?"  
"Because Ed doesn't get paid."  
"Sounds like you're getting the raw end of the deal."  
"Not really. Ed gets food. Ed gets a home. Nothing to worry about."  
"Yeah, but what if you were the boss?"  
"Ed never thought of that..."  
Jet and Spike walked into the living room glancing over at Ed and the bounty head for a moment then sat down by the computer and pulled up the file. "Michael Adrian Harms, better known as 'Long-Shot.' He was a minor bookie for a while until a mob boss took a fall and put him in charge. His syndicate controls most of Mars and has little opposition from both the cops and any rival groups."  
"So peewee over there is a mob boss? I think we're in the wrong business, Jet." The two walked towards the kitchen paying no mind to Ed who restarted the conversation after climbing around on some of the pipes around the syndicate leader.  
"Big, scary man! BLAH! RAWR! He's the boss!"  
"Yeah, I'm the boss. And I tell you what, you let me go and I'll make you the boss. Alright?"  
"Make Ed the boss? I don't know. Spike and Jet would be awful mad if Ed let 500,000 woolongs fly away." Ed made jumped off a pipe trying to fly but crashed into the floor, repeated this process twice more and sat back down on a pipe above the man.  
"Who cares? That's pocket change compared to what you'll be making if you become the boss. You'll be making millions every minute. And all you gotta do is let me go! Come on! Whaddya say?"  
"Ed says...nope! Sorry! Unh-uh!"  
"Please?"  
"Oops! Nasty man said the magic word!" Ed climbed down from her pipe and started heading for the keys to the three locks that held the chains together around the boss when the voice boomed:  
"YOU MEAN ALL I HAD TO DO WAS SAY PLEASE?!"  
"Mmmhmmm. Ed says that if someone is polite and asks nicely that they are sincere and you should help them."  
"Well, in that case, could you please help me get to my ship? I would appreciate it after you get me out of these chains."  
"Ed will help!"  
Ein strode into the living room during this time and was walking over to Ed and Michael when he noticed that the chains were coming loose. A loud growl followed by several particularly loud, shrill barks echoed throughout the Bebop. Ein's ears were flat against his head as he growled and barked. Even Ein knew that if someone was tied up they were supposed to stay that way.  
"Ein! Shhh...We're helping!" Ed tried to calm down the overactive dog but Ein ran off in the direction that Spike and Jet had left. "Dumb Ein." Ed continued to undo the chains.  
  
Jet was sitting in his bonsai room when Faye poked her head in to ask one of her usual questions.  
"Tell me, why again are we going to Mars, again!" The clipper in Jet's hand slipped when she opened her mouth causing him to cut off a branch.  
"A guy worth 500,000 crashed into the ship and we're turning him in to the authorities. Would you like to join him? I'm sure there's a bounty on you too, Faye. Don't you still have a few debts to pay off?" Jet smiled because the fickle woman exited after he had brought up her old gambling debts that she had run out on.  
Spike walked in as Faye stormed out. His eyebrow cocked upward as Faye fumed about how she was "taking orders from a cop."  
"What's her problem?"  
"She's a nag."  
"Get over it, Jet. You know you like her around."  
Jet took a hard swing at Spike's face with his robotic arm but missed of course. Spike knew it was coming because he provoked it. "You really need to pay attention to your work, Jet."  
"Huh?" Jet hadn't been paying attention to the fact that he was still working on his trees and one of them was now nearly without any limbs at all. "Gagh! Get out! All of you!" Jet pressed the control panel button to close the door and looked at his mutilated tree. "I need a vacation from my own ship..." 


	2. Session 2: The Deck Has Been Shuffled

The plot thickens as more plot-relevant information is revealed. This chapter is mainly canned because only one person has posted a review! Give me some tips or suggestions! Read & Review people!  
  
Ed had freed Michael by now and were both headed for the hanger where his ship had been put after he crashed. It was still in good shape and would be able to fly. He thanked Ed and climbed in.  
"WAIT! How does Ed become boss now?"  
"Oh, right. Take this." Michael tossed Ed a small silver key. "Go to the corner of Park Central and Grace and tell the woman behind the counter 'The deck has been shuffled.' She'll let you into the back and tell the men there the same thing. They'll know what you're talkin' about and you'll be the new boss. Okay?"  
Ed nodded several times enthusiastically and opened the hanger doors. The red lights inside flashed and Michael took off. Ed looked down at the key as the hanger doors closed after Michael exited and wondered what was in store for her.  
  
"YOU WHAT?!" The entire crew was about ready to tear Ed into a million pieces when they found out she had let the bounty head escape. "ED, THAT GUY WAS GOING TO BUY OUR FOOD FOR THE NEXT MONTH! WE NEEDED THAT MONEY!" Spike was going berserk.  
"Ed can get money. Nasty man said that Ed was the new boss."  
"What's she talking about?" Faye seemed calmer than the rest of them.  
"How should I know? Nothing the kid ever says makes sense." Jet rubbed his neck and rolled his eyes. "So what do we do?"  
"Well, Ed is a hacker and she probably has a warrant out for her arrest. There's probably a fat reward for her building up as we speak," Faye chimed in.  
"Well aren't you full of ideas." Spike thought it was possible.  
"She's full of something, alright." Jet knew it was a lost cause.  
"Well I don't see you two coming up with any ideas." Faye hated being under appreciated, but she got over it. "So what do we do?"  
  
Jet was right that there was no reward for Ed but they found a local one in the area that was worth 480,000. Some petty thief stole some rich guys prize car and was willing to pay a large amount just for the car returned safely. Spike thought it was too dull, Faye wrote it off as too petty, and Jet didn't even want to do it, but he was the only one left. The Bebop landed on Mars and Jet left to go try to find some information.  
Ed, meanwhile, was busy packing for an adventure. Ein was still growling at Ed for letting the bounty head go, but he wouldn't abandon his friend, so he went along for the trip as well. They landed near was huge and it took Ed some time to find out where Park Central and Grace was.  
"Spin, spin, spin. Where we stop, the boss knows. Flibbity- jibbity, the deck has been shuffled. All the live-long day!" Ed spun in circles in the center of the street, singing as she went along. None of it made sense to anyone but her, and she enjoyed it that way.  
After falling on her behind and recovering from the tumble, she looked up at the corner post for the street, which read "Park Central Avenue" pointing north/south, and "Grace Boulevard" east/west.  
"EIN! WE FOUND IT!" Ed picked up the small dog and tossed him into the air. This started the canine and it let out a sharp yelp as it was flung into the air and as it was caught and set down, simply sniffed a few times and looked around. His ears pricked up and then looked to Ed as if nothing had happened.  
"Well, Mr. President, we have found the address. Now, which boutique were you interested in?" Ed was unsure which shop she was supposed to be looking for. She peered into one of the corner shops and saw an old woman.  
The shop and bell attached to the door to sound the entrance of a customer. Ed looked around as she approached the desk acting mysterious and inconspicuous even though she was the only customer in the shop. Carefully looking around the room several times before confirming she wasn't being followed she walked up to the counter and in her roughest voice she said:  
"The deck.... has been shuffled..."  
"Excuse me?"  
"The deck has been shuffled."  
"I beg your pardon. I'm not sure I know what you are talking about." The woman was trying to figure Ed out. She shrugged her shoulders as she peered over the counter at the little girl and her canine companion. Why did some kid want to go downstairs, much less know what to say to get down there. The old woman's brain raced as she wondering what to do.  
"You know what I said..." Ed was still using her rough, deepened voice while speaking to the woman. After a moment of contemplating what she should do, the old woman unlocked the door to downstairs and opened it to Ed. Ein barked sharply and growled for a few moments as he followed the strange girl that marched quickly down the stairs.  
  
The car was an old Ford Mustang GT from the turn of the millennia. It was in good condition and was mainly a show car. The guy's father purchased it when it came out and it was a prized heirloom. "It's just a rusty old piece that no one will buy. That's why you call it an heirloom." The car shouldn't be too hard to find. Ford changed how the Mustang looked to symbolize a change in their designs and approaches to customer satisfaction, so and oldie like the 2000 model would be easy to spot. That and it was bright yellow. That helped a lot too.  
Jet was busy collecting information from sources he hadn't tapped into in years. Street hustlers, computer geeks, car specialists, the works and he turned up with names that might be connected. Two guys by the names of Royce Andrews and Mark Nextos supposedly were the thieves and lived downtown near an old parking garage. This had "convenient" written all over it.  
  
Spike and Faye were on the Bebop, alone, with no possibility of anyone coming back for several hours. Spike was busy praying to a movie poster that had Bruce Lee on it while Faye was out on the deck in her skimpy bathing suit tanning after a brief struggle with a seagull that mistook her top as a Hostess cupcake. Several bullets whizzing by the bird's head got the point across that there wasn't any cream filling to be found.  
Faye was just beginning to relax when a delivery truck blew by, U- turned quickly and landed next to the Bebop. A short, pudgy guy with a handlebar mustache got out with a small package that had been stamped fifty- thousand times by different post offices all over.  
"Is there a Miss Faye Valentine here to sign for this?" The little man was paying attention to the clipboard and didn't notice Faye walking over to him. When he looked up to see her standing in front of him his jaw nearly dropped to the floor, staring at the beauty that was Faye. "Uh...are you...uh...Faye...uh...Faye Valen...Valen...Valen..."  
"Valentine? Yeah, that's me. What do you want?"  
"Package for you. It seems to have traveled quite a distance. Oh, by the way, it's a C.O.D."  
Faye took one look at the package. It was the same stamps and marks that were on the past packages that had the first videotape and the tape player that revealed part of Faye's past. She was honestly debating if she was going to run scared again or stand up and accept her past no matter the cost. "How much is the cost?"  
  
The zip-craft dodged quickly out of the hanger and flew off into the sky as Faye raced off. "300,000 woolongs? What kind of cheap-ass kid was I? Seriously? I'm starting to wonder if I lived in some kind of orphanage as a kid." Her ship flew off towards where else but a casino. Faye had to come up with 300,000 soon because though she feared what may come of it, she wanted her past more than anything else, including money. 


	3. Session 3: No One Likes A Ford

A/N: This is mainly another canned chapter. I spent a while writing it and hopefully it will turn out better. I hope it keeps everyone's interest as the plot is starting to bubble as Spike decides to head out for some R&R. Also, the spacing comment has been noted and I am glad that some people are enjoying my work. Let the good times roll...  
  
"So, don't know where the car is, huh?" Mark Nextos' left cheek was swollen and red from being punched in that side of the face. Jet wasn't cruel. He knew if he punched with his left arm he might break the guy's neck and then he wouldn't be very useful.  
  
Mark Nextos was panicking. His friend Royce had already gotten the stuffing beat out of him, and he was already getting his. "I swear I don't! If I did I would have told you by now, don't you think?" This guy was getting on Jet's nerves and that wasn't a good idea.  
  
"Listen punk, if I wanted your opinion I'd ask for it. All I'm asking for right now is the location of the car you little jerks stole. Once I get that car back and your rears in jail I'm getting a hefty reward and that's the way my life works."  
  
"Well your lifestyle sucks!" Mark couldn't believe he had just said that, and neither could Jet, that's why the insult would not go unnoticed as Jet punched Mark in the stomach with his left arm. It knocked the wind out of him for a few minutes. Jet sighed because he wasn't getting anywhere with these idiots and they had gotten beaten to pulps and still no information as to the whereabouts of the car. Jet just couldn't figure it out. "How the hell does a bright yellow car get stolen and no one has seen it?"  
  
* * * * * *  
  
After clearing up the situation with Faye's delivery, which ended up with Spike dismissing him since Faye would be gone for a few days, he decided it was time to head out. He was bored, no one was around on the Bebop and there was nothing to do. He had meditated for three hours with no breaks and he was tired of just sitting around. There was nothing for him to do around there.  
  
The engine on Spike's Swordfish roared as he took off from the deck of the Bebop and blasted away towards a desolate part of town that very few lived in and you could buy anything from Beanie-Babies to Berettas, Pokèmon to paratroop rifles. If it ever existed you could probably find it there.  
  
After landing on a deserted runway, Spike had no trouble finding a bar in the area. There were about twenty and the best of them all was a small Irish pub named McClure's. It was clean, wasn't too rowdy, and the liquor was never watered down. As he walked towards it he browsed around in a few shops. A few guys were selling some old cars from decades ago like they were prized possessions. The ugliest of them all was some gaudy hunk of scrap metal painted bright yellow. Spike, with the shortest attention span in the world, continued walking soon forgetting ever seeing the car and headed into the pub. It wasn't long before someone noticed him and followed him into McClure's.  
  
Spike walked in and breathed in the smoke and liquor saturated air. He sat down at the bar and ordered a beer. Not long after the bartender turned around Spike fell to the floor semi-conscious. "Don't worry about him, he'll be fine. He just needs to rest. He had a few too many from down the street. I'll take care of him." The woman's voice was the last thing Spike remembered before he blacked out.  
  
* * * * * *  
  
Faye was coming up short. Her usual tricks weren't working at the high stakes table she had chosen to sit at. She was almost to the line, but that was after struggling to get there. She had lost almost half of her money when she finally won a big pot that put her near her mark. Two hands later she was slipping back to the low point.  
  
"How much to call?" A gruff voice to Faye's left asked. Faye had put out a considerable sum and the man was trying to figure out if it was worth it. They were playing the old-fashioned Texas Hold 'Em. The man was holding an ace-jack and there was already forty thousand woolongs in the pot.  
  
"Twenty eight thousand, Mr. Whorton." The dealer counted carefully and made a note of how much was already there. The starting bets were meager and then Faye jumped in with the raise.  
  
Thomas D. Whorton, a businessman from Venus, was on vacation for the next two weeks. He was independently wealthy and owned his own business. The money that they were playing for now was chump change compared to his yearly salary, so he figured "what the hell?" and called the bet.  
  
Faye was getting nervous. She was close enough to smell the package she was working towards. Now that she thought of it, the last few packages didn't have the greatest of aromas. She didn't care because inside would most likely be another link to her past and that was all she was concerned with. If it wasn't what she thought it was, she was going to the post office, find the deliveryman and give him a swift kick to the nuts with a steel-toe boot.  
  
The rest of the people playing besides Faye and Thomas Whorton folded their hands and the pot was at sixty eight thousand woolongs. Faye needed thirty in addition to the twenty-eight she originally put in, and that was playing out well. She would be ten thousand over if the betting stopped now, but she knew it wouldn't stop at this point.  
  
* * * * * *  
  
Jet turned in the two guys he had "interrogated" for fifteen hundred woolongs each. "Smallest of the small..." Jet thought to himself as he walked away. The car was still missing and the only lead he had was those two guys. He was disappointed with himself. "Maybe I'm losing my edge..." Jet was beginning to question his skills that he held as a detective years ago.  
Just then a black limousine pulled up in front of the police station and an eccentric old man, the one that was employing Jet, mind you, got out of the vehicle and walked up to Jet.  
"I'm assuming you just turned in the men that stole my car. If you would please get inside and direct my driver to the location of it, we will be on our way." The old man was very excited to be getting his car back, but Jet had to break the bad news to him now.  
"Mr. Yurianoko, I haven't exactly found the car yet. I just turned in the two guys that were suspected of it but I wasn't able to get any information from them as to the whereabouts of your stolen car."  
The old man's smile was gone and was immediately replaced with a raging voice. "Mr. Black, I was expecting this to be an open and shut case for someone with your experience. Clearly I chose the wrong man for the job."  
Jet flew off the handle at that last comment. "Well if you don't like the way I'm working, go find yourself another guy for the job! I'm a bounty hunter and I go after people, not someone's stupid car that no one liked when it was brand new!" 


	4. Session 4: A Brick, A Pipe, and Five Spa...

A/N: It has been made know to me that I haven't been denying credit to Bebop. Okay, sorry! I do not own Cowboy Bebop© nor do I own Spike Spiegel©, Faye Valentine©, Jet Black©, Ed© or Ein the dog©. Cowboy Bebop© is a cartoon that I enjoy very much and I am glad Adult Swim© usually shows. Thankfully we live in a free world© where we can publish FanFics© that are original works of the fans of the shows.  
  
Also, thanks goes to Jan Lee, whom seems to be my only avid fan. I am glad you enjoy reading this as much as I do writing it. Sorry for not updating it sooner. I've been really busy with stuff at school but I'll try putting more time into it. Also I'm in the process of writing two other fics at the same time, both Bebop of course. Now, on with the show!  
  
Spike woke up disoriented on a rough mattress in a small room. When he tried to sit up all he could feel was a deep, throbbing pain in the back of his head. He reached his hand back to feel how big of a lump there was. When his hand was about to touch the protrusion on his skull, a door to the right of him opened quite loudly. The hinges squeaked and it made Spike jump as he quickly lowered his hand onto his thigh.  
  
A woman walked through the door that opened. She was small, maybe 5'4", maybe taller. His head felt heavy and the pulsing shots in the back of his head got worse. He groaned a little bit from the pain, but tried not to let anything show. After all, he was a tough guy. The woman seemed unconcerned and distant from Spike's turmoil. She simply came in, placed some clean clothes on a dresser by the window and left.  
  
Once the pain had settled, Spike cleared his mind and started to focus on his surroundings. The door was locked. He remembered hearing the click when the woman had left a few minutes ago. The only window in the room was by the dresser and had several steel bars going vertically into the frame. A small wooden chair sat by a bare desk in a corner and next to the bed was a door into a bathroom. Was he in some kind of hotel room or something?  
  
The door clicked again, and a different woman walked in. His mind flashed back to the bar. His eyes had been darting around as usual when he walked in. There were a few drunks in the corner...and another guy at the bar two stools down...and a woman at a table behind him...That's it! That was the woman that must have knocked him out when the bartender had turned his back. He was caught off-guard because he didn't expect a woman to attack him unprovoked.  
  
She was taller than the first woman. Maybe 5'7" or so, long black hair that went down to her hips. He couldn't see her eyes very well, and he didn't like that. She spoke first.  
  
"You are Spike Spiegel, correct?" Spike nodded. "Then I am glad I did not attack the wrong person."  
"And who are you?" Spike still couldn't see her eyes. She was moving around the room, not towards him, just pacing back and forth in front of the door.  
  
"I do not think that is important right now, Mr. Spiegel. You see..."  
  
"First I think its damn well important and second don't called me mister!" Spike was not used to being the one questioned. He didn't like it, especially when it was a woman he was dealing with. That always was bad news waiting to happen, because most of the time a woman is working alone its for money or revenge, usually the latter.  
  
"No need to be hostile...Spike. You see, I am not here for personal business. This is a business proposition." Spike sighed in his mind. Not revenge.  
  
"And you couldn't have just asked me in the bar. Instead you whop me over the head with a brick..."  
  
She cut in: "It was a pipe, not a brick."  
  
"Shut up! You whop me over the head, kidnap me and lock me up in some hotel room. This is not what I call a sensible business meeting!" Spike didn't usually lose his cool, but to get kidnapped by a woman simply to be offered a job was humiliating.  
  
"Spike, it is not my choice that you are here. I did as I was told and that is why you are here as well as I. If you wish to leave and not hear me out, you are welcome to. But I would not expect and easy time dealing with my guards outside. You either leave with me or in an ambulance. It is your choice."  
  
Spike was out of luck this time. He was bluffing a pair of twos against a full house. She wouldn't brag about guards if she didn't think they could win. "Alright, let's hear it."  
  
* * * * * *  
  
"Let's see...what do I want to do..." Faye was playing the situation in her mind. She had a pair of queens in her hand, and a king, an ace and a ten on the table. There was no way of telling if Thomas Whorton held a better hand. She wished there was a TV around watching all of this. She remembered watching tournaments on the TV when she was in the hospital recovering from being cryogenically frozen. There were little percentage marks by a person's name as to how likely they would win the hand.  
  
"Get back into the game, Faye. This isn't a time for daydreaming." Whorton had just called her bet and the pot was at sixty eight thousand Woolongs. This was just over her goal by about ten thousand.  
  
Faye raised another ten thousand, and Whorton called. The flipped card revealed was another ace. Not anything that held any merit other than it was a spade, just like the king and ten that was already down. Faye looked down at her cards and looked at Whorton, who was already watching her reactions. The woman was calm as a pristine lake, undisturbed by the useless card dealt. She looked back at her cards and grabbed a mound of chips. Counting it carefully, she looked to Whorton and placed the chips out from her piles. "Twenty thousand."  
  
Whorton, playing for chump change was eager to not only call Faye's bet, but raise her another ninety thousand. Faye's eyes widened in disbelief. Either this guy was holding the mother of all hands, or was stupid enough to try to bluff his way against Faye Valentine, the queen of cards. She wasn't backing down, tape or no tape.  
  
"I'll call." Faye pushed a few large piles of chips outward. The final card was dealt: a jack of spades. Another worthless card for Faye. She was in boiling water now, because she only had a pair and Whorton had bet ninety thousand last round even before knowing the last card. He had something to beat Faye's little pair, and Faye was going to be hurting soon.  
  
The dealer chimed out while Faye was still going through her thought process on how to handle this. "Mr. Whorton, you are first to bid."  
  
Whorton was now beaming. He had a nice little full house ready to kill off anything that the woman had. He pushed one hundred and fifty thousand into the pot. Faye knew she had nothing but was riding on the bet that he had nothing when she blindly called his bet. If she lost she would be almost back to square one.  
  
"Mr. Whorton, Ms. Valentine, please reveal your hands." As soon as the dealer said this Whorton laid out his jack-ace and reveled in his jacks- over-aces full house. Faye's eyes began to water up, which was rare for someone like her to loose every bit of composure and bust out like how she was. She tossed her cards in front of her for all to see. She knew it was over. She would never see that tape.  
  
"Ladies and gentlemen, the winner: Ms. Faye Valentine with a Royal Flush!" The dealer was so excited that someone had finally gotten a royal flush at his table. He complimented her on her outstanding skills at playing and her emotional attachment to the game, and pushed the chips over to her and called for an escort to take her over to get the chips cashed.  
  
All of this was happening as Faye watched without a clue as to what happened. When she looked at her cards, she noticed that one of the queens was a spade. She looked to the other cards on the table. Ace, king, jack, ten, all of spades. She had actually pulled a royal flush and won five hundred and eighty thousand Woolongs. Faye nearly dragged her escorts to the counter to claim her money.  
  
A/N: Yeah this is a short chapter. Actually its longer than the other ones individually I think. Well, I got so caught up in the planning of Faye's surprise victory I didn't try chopping it into blocks. I'll probably be posting more soon. We need to check in on Jet and Ed, right? Tune in next time, folks...  
  
See you space cowboy...© 


	5. Session 5: 68th and Dextburg Road

A/N: Hello again! Welcome to another exciting chapter of "When In Rome." First let me get this thing out of the way: *takes deeeeeep breath* I do not own Cowboy Bebop and rightfully I cannot express the opinions of any of the characters rightfully because I didn't come up with them so I can't really say what they would say in any of the situations presented here. This is all my creative ideas so if the makers of Cowboy Bebop want to steal them they're welcome to because we all want to see more of the Bebop crew in the very very very near future. *gasps and breathes heavily*  
  
Like I said, welcome to another chapter. Thanks again for reading. Also, just so y'all know, I didn't notice on my profile that I did not allow anonymous reviews, but I changed that so hopefully more people give a few more comments. Well, since the last chapter was all about Spike and Faye, this chapter will be dedicated to Jet, Ed, and Ein. Hope you enjoy it.  
  
P.S. I AM SOOOOO SORRY FOR THIS BEING SO LATE! I just completely forgot about all my fics and my fans. I still plan on this being a continuing story for a while, I just need to get some ideas for it, so it might be a while for chapter six, but I guarantee that there will be one, and hopefully more after that! Anyways, on with the show!  
  
"So boss, what would you have done with this guy?" A large man in a dark suit was standing in the middle of the basement room holding a smaller man in a gray suit by the collar. The room was full of enforcers for the mafia group that met in this dusty room underneath the antique store.  
  
The "boss" was sitting in a large, high-backed chair with two sentries standing on either side. Every single one of the men that were associated with this mob group had at least a Beretta 9mm handgun at their disposal. "Boss?" The figure in the chair was contemplating what to do with the man presented in front of them all.  
  
"Give him some cookies and send him on his way, Mr. Murdock!" Ed sat in her cushy chair along with Ein as the single light bulb dimly lit the room. The chair was covered in cookie crumbs and bits of cupcakes and other food items.  
  
"But boss, he sold us out. This guy ratted to the cops. We saw him go in." The man in the dark suit was pleading to Ed to do something more...well...mean.  
  
"Hmmm...perhaps your right, mien heir. Throw him in the brig with the rest of the scallywags that are naughty in my sight!" Ed wasn't going insane with power, but she was enjoying the fact that whatever she wanted she could get with a snap of the fingers and a harsh tone. "And somebody get me some moooore cooookieeeess!" Ed sang out loud. She enjoyed it very much.  
  
* * * * * *  
  
Jet Black was not a man that gave up easily, if ever. He didn't have the nickname "The Black Dog" for nothing, after all. He was determined to find that car, not only for the reward, but to shove it in that little pompous, pampered bastard's face when he did it. The car was a piece of crap that he couldn't believe someone would steal, or anyone else want it back so badly, but he was hired for the job and he was going to do it not because he wanted to, but because he needed to show that he was better than the little rich pain in the neck that hired him.  
  
"Who would even want that ugly piece of crap anyway?" Jet thought out loud. "A worthless Ford Mustang that no one even wanted when it was new. And especially the fact that it's bright yellow makes in so much more appealing..." Jet was immersed in his own conversation that he failed to notice the bum that was milling along to his left.  
  
"Whaddayou know about the yellow Ford? That baby is a beauty. I ain't never seen nothing quite as pretty as that thing." The pest was talking to Jet.  
  
"Huh? Whaddya mean?" Jet was confused now.  
  
"The yellow Mustang? It's a piece of art! The GT models were the greatest in their day! I have yet to come across someone that disagreed but you are the only one that has that I've met."  
  
"You've seen a yellow Mustang?"  
  
"Who hasn't around here? It's the main attraction to this part of town. In case you didn't notice, we don't get a lot of tourism with this kind of surroundings." The street was littered with damp pieces of cloth used to cover small stalls that sold rotten fruit and broken toys. The trash was littered across the ground in puddles of water that bubbled out of overflowing drainpipes.  
  
"Where is it?"  
  
"Down the street about three blocks, go left and another two blocks. It's parked in a big warehouse." Jet's eyes lit up. A LEAD! He started racing off down the road and skidding to a slow stop. He turned back to run back towards the bum but the first step he took landed on a rotten banana peel and he fell on his arse. He quickly got up and wiped off his rear and ran over to the smaller man. "Here's fifty Woolongs. And thanks." Jet turned back and hustled down the street and was gone.  
  
* * * * * *  
  
Faye was headed back to the Bebop when Jet's faced appeared on the Redtail's communicator. She was a bit surprised that he called her instead of his little friend Spike. "What do you want, Jet?"  
  
"Boy you sure are beaming. You rob a bank or something?" Jet could still see that Faye was still happy about winning enough money to buy the videotape.  
  
"Kinda...I won over five hundred thousand at a poker game. Got a royal flush...no big whoop." Faye played it off casually. Jet was somewhat shocked at the hand, rather than the winnings.  
  
"A royal flush, huh? Well, that's something to whistle about. But listen, head on down to 68th Street and Dextburg Road. There's a warehouse down here with some rich guy's car. The reward is almost what you made playing poker." Jet knew he could probably handle it, but Spike wasn't around to help him.  
  
"Why don't you bother Spike with this? I thought you two were partners." Faye questioned, not really caring about Spike's actual disposition, just wondering why Jet was trying to drag her into something she didn't care about.  
  
"Well, Spike isn't went out this morning and never came back. The Swordfish is abandoned and he's not answering his comm. Knowing him he's probably in trouble, but he's resourceful." Jet replied. He was concerned, but now wasn't the time to be worried about him. That reward was almost in his hands. "Now if only Faye would stop whining and get over here..." thought Jet.  
  
* * * * * *  
  
"Boss..." "Pssst... Hey boss." "Is she asleep?" "I dunno. Whaddya think we should do?" "Well, Mr. Yamamoto isn't going to be pleased that he can't meet with the boss." "He'll have to deal with it. If the boss is busy, den he can just wait." "You wanna tell him that?" "No, you think I'm stupid? I don't wanna die." "Well somebody's gotta tell him." "Hey Joey, do me a favor. Tell Mr. Yamamoto that the boss is busy. If he asks what's up, tell him that its... uh... dirty down here and we're just cleaning up for him." "That's what you wanna tell Mr. Yamamoto? He ain't gonna buy that sack o' BS." "Well that's all we got, so it better or you're gonna be in trouble." "Alright, I'll tell him, but make sure someone's there to let me back in. I don't wanna be stuck out there with him." "Shut your yap and get up there." 


End file.
